HOUSTON – After Saturday night’s match against the LA Galaxy, the Houston Dynamo enter a 16-day break from MLS play for the World Cup. For a struggling Dynamo squad, getting things moving in a positive direction prior to the break is more critical now than ever.

“We have to turn this around as you don’t want to go into a break with a string of poor performances and poor results,” Houston’s Andrew Hainault said. “We want to make sure we can go into the break with a little bit of confidence and look at yourself in the mirror and say that we put the work in and now we have a break.”

On the heels of a 2-1 loss to New York on Wednesday night [WATCH HIGHLIGHTS: NY 2, HOU 1], the game against the Galaxy becomes paramount. Taking three points against the best team in MLS, however, might be asking too much for a struggling Dynamo squad.

“We don’t want to go into the long break losing three games in a row or only coming away with two points,” defender Eddie Robinson said prior to Wednesday’s loss.

Houston currently sit in fourth place in the Western Conference, but two teams trailing have multiple games in hand.

“We don’t want to drop points at this stage and it would be nice to try to get a little cushion for playoff spots,” goalkeeper Pat Onstad said. “It would be nice to build a lead a built and try to look at guys ahead of us. LA’s probably a pipe dream as they are so far ahead, but right now to shoot for second place, you have to get some points to do that.”

Despite the break from MLS play, Houston coach Dominic Kinnear will likely fiddle with the lineup and take some chances in matches against the Laredo Heat (June 10) and CD Águila (June 19). The latter match marks the second annual Dynamo Charities Cup in Houston.

“With the break, [turning things around] is important,” Kinnear said. “We’re almost halfway through the season, with 13 games done and 17 left. We will know where we are at and we will know what we need to do to improve our situation.”

Dwain Capodice is a contributor to MLSsoccer.com. Questions or Comments can be sent via email to dwaincapodice@gmail.com.